A PAPER mill worker who became the first patient in Britain to have all his fingers sewn back on after they were sliced off in a horror accident said today: "I'm fine!"

Harry Fishwick, 56, spoke from his bed at Withington Hospital, Manchester, after undergoing 18 hours of micro surgery performed by a team of five surgeons while he was awake.

He paid tribute to the work of the surgeons and their team and said: "I felt no pain during the operation which up to now has been completely successful."

Consultant plastic surgeon Stewart Watson, who led the team at Withington Hospital, said he believed it was the first time a British patient had had all his fingers reattached.

"We have heard about a couple of cases in Taiwan, one in the USA and one in China but we think it is the first eight finger replant in Britain."

And he described Mr Fishwick as a "magic patient."

"He was determined to do everything possible to help us. He was tremendous."

The accident happened at 8.15 am last Friday at Sappi Europe's Feniscowles paper mill where Mr Fishwick works as a machine operator.

He was initially taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary but then transferred to Withington Hospital which specialises in micro surgery. The operation began at 3.30pm and finished at 11am the following morning.

Harry was given a local rather than a general anaesthetic throughout the operation partly because it improves blood flow to the fingers. The fact that the injury had been caused by a sharp blade which produced a clean cut was a major factor in making the reattachment possible.

He also needed a full body blood transfusion during his ordeal.

Mr Fishwick, 56, of Chorley, will now spend the next six to eight weeks in hospital and will need regular physiotherapy on his fingers for around two years. Although Mr Fishwick will not regain the grip in his fingers they will look normal and he will be able to grip between his thumb and forefinger.

"I hope to continue to make excellent progress with the help of physiotherapy and to regain use of my hands in two years time," he said.

As well as paying tribute to the surgical team Mr Fishwick said he had enjoyed "extreme kindness and care from nursing staff" at the hospital. And Mr Watson paid tribute to the work of his team.

"You can't do something like this without a very good team. It isn't just about surgical expertise but about all the other people involved like theatre staff and anaesthetists."

Investigations into how Mr Fishwick's accident happened are still continuing.

It is understood his injuries were caused by the guillotine blade of a reel splitting machine which is used to cut giant rolls of paper at the Feniscowles plant.

An engineers' report is now being carried out on the machine and a team of managers from Sappi's Brussels head office travelled to the factory this week to investigate how it happened.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.